Sheet metal pattern cutter



United States Patent [111 3,533,321

' [72] Inventor Ped o R- pe 3.314.322 4/1967 Cutter 83/522X 144 Follett St., Richmond. California 3,410.]68 l 1/1968 Feitshans 83/917X 94801 [21 Appl. No. 797,066 Primary Examiner-William S. Lawson Filed Feb. 6, 1969 Attorney- VictorJ. Evans and Co.

ls Patented Oct. 13, 1970 (54] SHEET METAL PATTERN CUTTER 17 D F 4 Clalms rawmg ABSTRACT: Apparatus for cutting from a sheet so that the [52] [1.5. Cl 83/468, pipe is disposed at angles and given radii f being fin l into 33/52183/62033/63983/917 other sections ofpipe,in which there isatable for the machine [2 l '1 B26d7/16 to expedite cutting of the sheets forming rectangular elbows. i301 Flew of Search 83/468 offsets and the like. The pipes are adapted to be used in heat. 322-3-62U-639-917 ventilation and air conditioning. The apparatus is seen to R f en d reduce all layout work. The machine consists of a benchor 3 i e H CBS table with a heavy gauge metal top with angle iron legs. and UNITED STATES PATENTS there is provided on the top of the table given notching dies 3.241780 3/1966 Reid et al 83/522X disposed in three of its corners, and one die is set a short way 3,274,868 9/1966 Williams 83/5 22X from the other corner.

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I i a j @114 ll LJ L1 1.1 u u Mi L J T? 5 s 5 o 76 /2 O .14 m f E T] 24 Patented Oct. 13, 1970 7 3,533,321

Sheet 2 of3 P M2 F Patented Oct. 13, 1970 3,533,321

52 2% 7 d2 INVENTOR. ,95040 @755 10, 52

SHEET METAL PATTERN CUTTER SPECIFICATION The present invention relates to an improved sheet metal pattern cutter apparatus, and'more particularly the invention is directed to the art of facilitating the measurements for designing and cutting work pieces used in forming elbows, and other pipe connection means.

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon full consideration of the following detailed description and accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the machine for sheet metal pattern cutting according to a preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view on enlarged scale taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 7-7 of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 8-8 of FIG.

FIG. 9 is a partially broken away side view of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a front elevation view of an adjustable cutting tool used in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 11 is an end view taken along line ll-l1 of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a side elevation view of an adjustable block;

FIG. 13 is a plan view of FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is an illustration showing the manner in which the adjustable extension is assembled;

FIG. 15 is a detail plan view for cutting offsets of FIG. 14 showing the manner in which the bolt and nut clamp the channel thereon;

FIG. 16 shows an end view of a spacer tightening nut as a detail view of FIG. 14; and

FIG. 17 shows an end elevation view of a pocket for sheet metal for cutting offsets.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown a plan view in FIG. I of the machine 10 having a working surface 12 to perform all the layout cut work necessary. A piece of sheet metal is placed on the surface 12 and a hole punch is'made in the one corner at a depth from the edges which is gauged by the gauges on the machine. A pin is inserted at the desired depth in 34A and another is inserted in the corresponding line in 34B, thus establishing the distance from the edge of the metal blank to the center of the radius hole; the depth on the other side, or at right angles, is gauged by 1 16 on punch body 104. A pin is inserted in row 5 at the desired distance. The pin is then inserted through the hole that has been punched in the metal blank; after this is done, it is then run through the cutting tool 98, and thus the heel of the elbow is cut. The pin is then moved to row 3 on steel bar 134 to the desired distance; it is again inserted in the punched hole in the corner of the sheet metal blank and run through cutting tool 98, and thus the throat of the elbow cheek is cut. The next step is to notch the four corners of the elbow cheek in the notchers at the corners of the machine, as shown, and offsets are obtained by using a steel bar, such as shown in FIG. 14. The radius point for cutting offsets is taken from a given chart which is furnished with the machine, and this is explained below.

The machine 10 consists of a bench or table forming the surface 12 having a heavy gauge top with angle iron legs which are well known in the art. As shown in FIG. 1, among other figures, the table top has notching dies at the three corners l4, 16, 18 .and a further die 22'is set a short distance from corner 24. The details of the notching dies 14, 16, 18 are such that there is a bottom die 26, a top die 28 and the top die holder 30. There is a guide for the ram 32, and depth gauge holes34 drilled in the bottom die 26. Into these holes 34 a pin is placed on each side of the die for establishing the depth of the notches. These holes 34 are depth gauge holes, and the notching dies are activated by a hydraulic cylinder 50, as shown in FIG. 5. One die or all four dies l4, 16, 18, 22 may be used at any one time and the dies that are not being used are deactivated by disconnecting the hydraulic hose from the pump to the cylinder (not shown).

Shown in FIG. 1 on the upper edge of the machine 10 are five notching dies 38, 38, 38 which are removable from the machine table 12, and the purpose of these dies is that the machine may be used as a duct notcher when no elbows or offsets are being cut. The dies 38, 38, 38 are also activated by hydraulic cylinders similar to those shown in FIG. 5 (element 50) and are deactivated similarly by disconnecting the cylinder from the pump (not shown). The die 38 is of the same profile and construction as die 38. The three dies 38 are V- dies used to notch the corners of the square duct, but dies 38 bear the same shape as die 28. A detail of this die is shown in FIG. 8 wherein there is shown the top of the cylinder 71, a hydraulic connection 72 being shown for the cylinder; 73 shows the body of the cylinder having a front cover plate 74, a top die 75, a bottom die 76, a piston 77, and an expansion spring 79 for returning the piston to a top position. A shaft 78 is for operating the top die 75, and a top die holder 80 is provided to fasten the piston shaft 28. An angle iron frame 82 is shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, and a set bolt 83 is provided for keep ing the dies from moving when in use.

A pair of slots 84, 84 in FIG. 1 extends through the top of the table surface 12 for accommodating a steel bar 86, as more particularly shown in FIG. 2. In FIG. 2, there is shown an enlarged view of the bar 86 which passes a bolt and thumb screw 88 to hold the bar 86 in place when a keep nut 90 is secured on the underside of the table by means of Z-bars 92, 92. Along one side of the edge of each slot 84 is a graduation 96, 96, as shown in FIG. I which is shown in inches, or any other convenient manner, and fractions thereof, as marked on the table surface 12. A zero mark is the point being the cutting edge of the blade 98 (see FIGS. 10 and 11). The bar 86 is only used when cutting elbows that have one end wider than the other and which require having two radius points where the punch comes in, as suggested in the embodiments of FIGS. 6 and 7, the punch being adjustable so that it may punch at different centers and move back and forth along the rail, as

shown.

More particularly, FIG. 6 shows a side elevation view of a movable punch 100 in which the table top surface 12 is provided with a longitudinal angle support 102 for supporting an edge of the table and serving also as a guide for the punch body 104. A nut 1'06 threadedly engaging a bolt stud 108 is threaded into the punch body 104. A further longitudinal angle 110 having a hole 112 through which the stud 108 passes so that the longitudinal angle I10 serves as a guide for the punches. One of the angle iron legs 114 is one of the table legs mentioned. above in connectionwith FIG. 1. An adjustable depth gauge 116 is held in place by a bolt 118. A U-shaped piece of steel bar 120'extending around three sides of the punch body 104 is disposed to attach a short round steel bar 124 which serves as a handle for operating the punch. The operation of the punch isaccomplished by up-and-down motion thereof, and a pivot pin 126 provides for the moving of the U-shaped piece 120 and the steel bar 124. A portion of the punch die 128. is illustrated and provides that a hole drilled through it can take a pin and the pin raises and lowers the punch 128. The hole in the punch body 104 is a small vertical oval structure to permit movement of the pin 125. Slot 112 is provided for movement of the punch 104, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

In FIG. 4-is shown' the end view of a rail 130 which has perforations for throat, heel and plain cutting, and in'which there is a steel channel fastened to the edge of the table 10, as shown in FIG. 1. It may be five or seven feet or longer, and there is shown on the rail a flat steel bar 134 with three rows of holes 138 thereon. A half round steel quadrant 136 is fastened to each end of the channel 132. The steel bar 134 has a hole drilled on center at each end to take up pin 138 which is a pivot pin for moving bar 134 to the left and right, thus changing the rows of holes on the centerline. A threaded stud 142 is provided at each end of the channel 132 which performs as a pivot bolt on which the steel bar 144 pivots to move the steel bar 134. On the quadrant 136, there are three holes 140 to hold the bar 134 in a given position, and this is accomplished by moving the bar 144 to the desired position and letting keeper pin 150 fall into the hole 140. Pin 150 is on one end of steel bar 152 (FIG. 1

In FIG. 3, there is shown a channel 132 in which the steel bar 134 is not shown, and on which pivot pins 138, 142 are disposed at each end of the channel 132 extending around the quadrant 136. The keeper pin 150 is in its holding position, and a pivot pin 162 is shown in' FIG. 3 in which the steel bar pivots. An expansion spring 166 tends to keep the tension between the steel bar 164 and steel bar 144, thus keeping the pin 150 in the hole 140. By this same motion, there is provided motion to push bar 168 against a steel bar 170 for pivoting on the steel bar 172 to cause the opposite steel bar 168a to pull in and thus pull the pin 150 from hole 140 in the opposite ends. A steel pipe 170 is welded at each of its ends into the steel bars 144, 144 for keeping them in line. A portion of the rail 130 and the channel 132 are disposed generally along the centerline and in alignment with the centerline of the cutting blade 98 (FIGS. and 11). The center of the first hole closest to the cutting blade is gauged from the cutting edge of the blade 98. Row 3 of the holes are the centers for cutting the throat part of the elbows and they are spaced at radii minimum threesixteenths of an inch, or whatever the edge turning machine may require. Row 5 is used in cutting the heel portion of elbows and they are spaced at radii plus three-sixteenths of an inch, or whatever the edge turning-machine may require. The middle row between rows 3 and 5 represents straight measurements without allowances, and it is used for most anything such as cutting circles and the like.

FIG. 5 is one corner of the table as shown along section lines 5-5 of FIG. 1, including a surface 12 which is the table top and in which the bottom matching die 26 is shown, together with the top matching die 28, the top die holder 30, the top die guide 32, and in which a shaft from the hydraulic cylinder 50 is shown as shaft 180. The hydraulic oil connector means 184 connects with a pump (not shown), and there is further shown a leg angle iron 114a that rests on a floor plate 186.

[n the adjustable block 190 to be used when given radii are provided, a set screw 192 holds a block 194 in a desired position. A pin 198 is inserted into the block 194. A steel channel 196 on one side is provided with graduations into fractions of an inch, and on the bottom of the channel 196 are two pins 198, 198 so that they fit into the holes in the steel bar 134. The bar is used in the cutting of offsets or elbows made of sheet metal such as used in heating, ventilation and air-conditioning. As shown in FIGS. 14 and 17, there aretwo steel angles 200 held together by spacers 202,204, and in which the length of steel angles 200, 200 can vary in length; Two holes 206, 206 are drilled into spacer 204(see FIG. 16) in case of extension that may be required. FIG. 15 shows a bolt 208 with a round head so that it can be inserted into the holes of steel bar 134. It is kept in place by tightening the nut 208. A steel block 210 is welded onto the steel angles 200, 200 and the corner piece 214. The corner piece 214 is a pocket into which the piece of sheet metal that is to be cut is inserted and held in place by set screws 216, 216, as shown. The depth gauge holes 34 are also illustrated.

After the corner of sheet metal is inserted into the pocket 214 and then clamped down by set screws 216, 216 the correct radius is obtained from a chart (not shown), and the bolt 208 is set at the proper distance and dropped into the correct hole in between rows 3 and 5, mentioned above in connection with FIG. 1, of the steel bar 134, and then it is run through the cutter.

Additional embodiments of the invention in this specification will occur to others and therefore it is intended that the scope of the invention be limited only by the appended claims and not by the embodiment described hereinabove. Accordingly, reference should be made to the following claims in determining the full scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A sheet metal pattern cutter comprising:

a work table having four corners, a notching die means at three of said corners, said die means having a top and bottom and a ram, depth gauge holes drilled in said bottom die means, a hydraulic cylinder to activate said die means, and a further die means near a fourth corner;

a pair of parallel slots extending along the top of said table for retaining a bolt and thumb screw, a slotted bar that transversely engages said slots and having its slotted portion to engage said bolt and thumb screw, zero markings and graduation markings along said slots, and a steel channel bar having I. a quadrant means, 2. a pivoting steel bar. and 3. a series of apertures therein to gauge the cutting edge ofa cutter blade.

2. The invention according to claim 1 wherein an adjustable block and pin arrangement is provided to allow for design changes in performing cutting operations upon metal work pieces.

3. The invention according to claim 1 wherein said steel bar is used in the cutting of offsets to be make in metal work pieces.

4. The invention according to claim 1 wherein said table is supported by leg elements on which are mounted said hydraulic cylinders. 

